A former soldier yesterday broke the silence surrounding the brutal death of an Iraqi prisoner in British Army custody.

Garry Reader confessed that he saw two of his colleagues hitting and kicking the helpless, handcuffed prisoner.

Minutes later, 26-year-old hotelier Baha Mousa died despite desperate attempts to resuscitate him, a public inquiry into his death heard.

Mr Reader, a former private, said it was his belief that the beating administered by colleagues he named as Corporal Donald Payne and Private Aaron Cooper killed Mr Mousa.

All three men were members of the 1st Battalion The Queen’s Lancashire Regiment and the startling admission – breaking the silence among fellow soldiers about the disturbing death – could open the way for fresh charges to be brought in a case which shamed the Army.